The Improbable Farmer

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Sunday, April 8, 2012

At the beginning of 2012 I started a 90 day challenge for myself. My goal was to eliminate processed food for the first 90 days of this year.

How did I do? It's a bit subjective but I would give myself a B.

What did I discover? Here are a few highlights.

Pasta is an easy go to dinner for me. Unfortunately, I don't think I have the easiest set up to make it myself. I have a manual pasta roller that I couldn't get attached to my counter firmly enough. Rolling out one dinner's worth of fettuccine was frustrating to say the least. I did break down and buy pasta at the store. I also discovered that apparently the pasta producers of America think that because I want organic pasta, I also like whole wheat pasta (which I hate). Grrr.

I dawdle. I never realized how much I waste little moments in my day until I would look up at notice it was 5:30pm and I hadn't started cooking for dinner. All of my fantastic plans for roasted chicken with homemade mashed potatoes are not going to happen if the chicken is frozen and I still hadn't gone to the store for potatoes. In 2011, that would mean a quick trip to buy a frozen pizza and that was my toughest battle to overcome. I can proudly say that I only gave in once.

On the positive side, because I dawdle, I discovered that using my pressure cooker is the most wonderful invention. Beans have started playing a huge role in our meals and I can make most types in under 30 minutes (no soaking) using my trusty pressure cooker. Plus I feel like I'm hanging out at Hogwarts in potions class.

Chocolate? Back away from my chocolate or suffer the consequences. There are times when a girl NEEDS good chocolate. I did go through a few bars but I bought fair trade, organic chocolate with minimal ingredients. Happily, I also discovered a quick and easy recipe for chocolate ice cream in an old Cooking Light magazine. I made a few substitutions to modernize it and I now have an emergency stash of the good stuff in the freezer. I give you ...

Salted Dark Chocolate Ice Cream!

I couldn't get a picture to do the dish justice... who am I kidding...I ate it all before I could take a picture... It's really, really dark brown and looks like paradise. Use your imagination :)

In a medium sized pot, mix the cocoa and sugar. Stir in 1/2 cup milk and the egg yolks. Stir in rest of milk and heat to 160.

In a separate pot, heat chocolate and cream over low heat.

Stir melted chocolate and cream mixture into the ice cream base.

Follow your manufacturers ice cream maker directions to freeze. If you don't have an ice cream maker, try Dave Lebovitz's directions. This is such a rich and dense ice cream that it will probably come out just as good either way.

When serving, sprinkle a bit more chocolate on top if desired. I LOVE LOVE LOVE salty/sweet flavors right now so I pile it on.